Methods of Research and Data Analysis
Bridgewater College PSCI 250 01
Spring 2008
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 11-11:50am
Flory 202
Professor Jamie Frueh office hours:
MWF 9-11am and 2-4pm; TTh 11am-12pm and by appointment
Flory 210 office 828-5764; home 433-1171 jfrueh@bridgewater.edu
Overview
This course is designed to help you wrap your mind around the process of research. Research is a category of activities commonly associated with the production of “facts” and “knowledge.” When we sort ideas and statements, those that have achieved a very high degree of certainty earn the designation “knowledge.” This is a very powerful designation. People with lots of “knowledge” are valued and respected. “Knowledge” must be passed down to future generations. People with the most “knowledge” are supposed to make the best decisions. “Knowledge” is truth.
“Knowledge” is power. In our society, scientific research is the most trusted way to produce knowledge. In almost all cases, claims backed up by scientific research are more valuable than claims backed up by faith or intuition or astrology. In this class, you will learn how to understand, evaluate, generate and communicate knowledge claims – assertions that certain ideas and statements are worthy of being classified as knowledge. You will learn how to do social scientific research and in the process gain the expertise so you can judge whether the knowledge claims of others were arrived at through legitimate social science methods. You will learn how to communicate your research and your knowledge claims to others in ways acceptable to social scientists. Acquiring these skills will make you a competent member of the social scientific community.
Goals – By the end of the course, you should be able to:
 understand the logic of the system of research methods; to see the procedures as opportunities rather than capricious or sadistic straightjackets.
 know and reproduce the dominant rules of social scientific research.
 read and understand basic research articles in scholarly Political Science journals.
 evaluate whether knowledge claims of others were arrived at through legitimate social science methods.
 design social scientific research projects tailored to answer specific questions.
 generate your own knowledge claims according to the rules of social science research.
 develop your own personalized process for writing persuasive research papers that conform to the generally accepted epistemological standards of Political Science.
Texts
Baglione, Lisa A. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure and
Methods . Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2007.
Burnham, Peter, Karin Gilland, Wyn Grant and Zig Layton-Henry. Research Methods in Politics . NY: Palgrave
MacMillan, 2004.
We will also be reading articles from scholarly journals in the field of Political Science and International Relations.
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Work Requirements – grades will be calculated out of 1000 points. attendance and participation
Attendance is required. Absences will only be excused with a note from a doctor, school official or parent. Points will be deducted for unexcused absences. If you miss more than seven classes for any reason, you will fail the course. article analyses – 200 points (100 points each)
As part of your research on your paper topic, you will submit an analysis and review (800 to 1000 words) of two scholarly articles related to your paper topic: an article that uses predominately quantitative research methodologies for
Friday, March 28 and another that uses predominately qualitative research methodologies for Monday, April 14 . You will submit each article to the professor before you begin to ensure that they are suitable for the assignment. The primary focus of your analysis should be research methodologies and how they relate to the author’s conclusions. research designs - 200 points (100 points each)
As part of your preparations to write your research paper, and as a practical application of the skills you will be acquiring in the data collection and analysis sections of the course, you will construct two research designs for your research topic. On Wednesday, April 2, you will submit a research design that you could implement to understand your topic using quantitative methods. On Monday, April 21 , you will design a way to explore your topic using qualitative methods. These two research designs may need to explore different aspects of your topic. research paper preliminary work – 100 points
The process of completing a research project can be broken down into a series of steps. On Monday, February 18 , after consultation with the professor, you will submit a research topic that you want to explore in significant detail this semester. On Monday, February 25 , you will submit an annotated bibliography showing the state of your preliminary research. On Monday, March 3 , you will submit a draft of your literature review section. On Monday, March 10 you will submit an outline of your paper. A partial rough draft will be submitted on Monday, April 11 . A complete rough draft is due on Friday, April 25 . It will not be graded, but it will be marked by the professor and critiqued by your peers in the spirit of constructive criticism.
Deadlines and points for paper components:
Monday 2/18: paper topic and research question – out of 20 points
Monday 2/25: annotated bibliography – out of 20 points
Monday, 3/3: literature review draft – out of 20 points
Monday, 3/10: outline – out of 20 points
Monday, 4/11: partial rough draft – out of 20 points
Friday, 4/25: complete rough draft to be critiqued by professor and peers - ungraded research paper – 400 points
You will build a twenty-page research paper that analyzes a topic that is related to the fields of Political Science, of interest to you, and approved in consultation with the professor. Ideally, the paper will compile and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. The paper is due on Thursday, May 1 at 5pm. critiques – 100 points (50 points each)
In order to help each other turn in better final papers, you will work in a small group to critique two other students’ rough drafts. Bring two copies of a written critique – one for the author and one for me – to class on Monday, April
28 . I will grade you on how thoughtful, thorough and helpful your critique is.
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Grading Scale
You will be graded out of 1000 points according to the following scale:
A 930 to 1000 points C 730 to 769 points
A minus 900 to 929 points
B plus 870 to 899 points
B
B minus
C plus
830 to 869 points
800 to 829 points
770 to 799 points
C minus
D plus
D
D minus
F
700 to 729 points
670 to 699 points
630 to 669 points
600 to 629 points
599 and below
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to be aware of and abide by the Bridgewater College Honor Code, specifically as it relates to the act of plagiarism, which the student handbook defines as “the use of another person’s ideas or thoughts, which are not common knowledge, without acknowledging the source.” The policy specifically prohibits copying paragraphs or even central ideas and claiming them as your own, in addition to the more obvious violations such as buying papers off the web or turning in someone else’s work as your own. Violations will be dealt with swiftly and severely by the Honor
Council and could result in failure of the course or expulsion from the college. If you are in doubt, cite the source.
Course Structure
Week 1 – 1/25
F Introductions, syllabus, teaching philosophy, goals of the course
Week 2 – 1/28-2/ 1
M
W
Introduction to scientific research
For Monday: Burnham introduction, pages 1-7.
Politics and paradigms
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 1, pages 8-29.
F
Week 3 – 2/4-2/8
No class today
M The ethic of research
For Monday: Steve Smith, “Singing the World into Existence,” International Studies
Quarterly , 48:3 (September, 2004) pages 499-515, available through
Blackwell-Synergy at the BC library website.
W
F
Scientific method and the social sciences
For Wednesday: read the handout and at least one of the following websites: http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu/phy_labs/AppendixE/AppendixE.html http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/sci_meth.htm http://phyun5.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node5.html
The research project
For Friday: Baglione chapter 1, pages 1-13.
Week 4 – 2/11-2/15
M The idea of research
For Monday: Burnham chapter 2, pages 30-45.
W
F
The research question as foundation
For Wednesday: Baglione chapter 2, pages 14-30.
Workshop: topics and research questions
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Week 5 – 2/18-2/22
M Library tour
W
Paper topic and research question proposal due
The literature review
F
For Wednesday: Baglione chapter 3, pages 31-58 and Jeffrey Knopf handout.
Library presentation
Week 6 – 2/25-2/29
M Citations and Plagiarism
Annotated bibliography due
W Your argument
For Wednesday: Baglione chapter 4, pages 59-72.
F Your research design
For Friday: Baglione chapter 6, , pages 89-117.
Week 7 – 3/3-3/7
M Your analysis
For Monday: Baglione chapter 7, pages 118-148.
Draft of literature review due
W Comparative research methods
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 3, pages 58-79.
F Case studies
For Friday: John Gerring, “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American
Political Science Review 98 (2004), pages 341-354, available through JSTOR.
Week 8 – 3/10-3/14
M Surveys and polls as research methods
For Monday: Burnham chapter 4, pages 80-113.
Paper outline due
W Quantitative and statistical research methods I
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 5, pages 114-129.
F Quantitative and statistical research methods II
For Friday: Burnham chapter 5, pages 129-142.
Spring Break
Week 9 – 3/25-3/28
W
F
Inferences in research
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 6, pages 143-164.
Quantitative workshop
Quantitative article analysis due
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Week 10 – 3/31-4/4
M
W
Internet research
For Monday: Burnham chapter 8, pages 189-204.
Dr. Josefson’s research methods
Quantitative research design due
F Documentary and archival research methods
For Friday: Burnham chapter 7, pages 165-188.
Week 11 – 4/7-4/11
M Elite interviewing
For Monday: Burnham chapter 9, pages 205-220.
W
F
Participant observation
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 10, pages 221-249.
Dr. Frueh’s methodology
Partial rough draft due
Week 12 – 4/14-4/18
M Workshop: qualitative research
W
Qualitative article analysis due
Research ethics
F
For Wednesday: Burnham chapter 11, pages 250-269.
Alternative research methods
For Friday: Burnham chapter 12, pages 270-278
Week 13 – 4/21-4/25
M Workshop: rough drafts
Qualitative research design due
W Concluding the paper
For Wednesday: Baglione chapter 8, pages 149-156..
F Editing and commentary
W
Rough draft due – bring three copies to class
Week 14 – 4/28-4/30
M Workshop rough drafts
Rough draft comments due
Polishing and wrap up
For Wednesday: Baglione chapter 9, pages 157-166.
Research papers due: Thursday 5/1 at 5pm
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